Bonded Lives
by Hellz Slayer
Summary: Summary: Inuyasha and Kagome's budding relationship evolves each day, yet when another foe arises that is just about as much a threat as Naraku, what does Inuyasha do? It might've been easier if this demon hadn't linked Kagome's fate along with hers
1. Peace and Quiet

Summary: Inuyasha and Kagome's budding relationship evolves each day, yet when another foe arises that is just about as much a threat as Naraku, what does Inuyasha do? It might've been easier if this demon hadn't linked Kagome's fate along with hers..

A/N : I was watching T.V and this idea just came to me and I just HAD to write it and see it on FFN ) please R-R and tell me your reactions and etc.. thanks

Added Information: this is set during the time probably after the second movie, and Naraku isn't defeated yet.

**Bonded Lives **

**Chapter One : Peace and Quiet**

Today was just another ordinary day for Inuyasha and the rest of his companions. Kagome had just gotten back from her world, and everybody was glad to be able to have another one of her infamous lunches.

"This stuff is yummy, Kagome," Shippo took a huge bite of what seemed to be a Red Bean Rice Cake. Kagome smiled cheerfully.

"Your world has many delicious foods, Kagome," Sango remarked casually, as she reached for another rice ball. "It must be wonderful living there."

"Yes, I agree," Miroku said, seriously. "But no place is complete without.."

Before he could finish the sentence, there was a loud SMACK and a red mark appeared on his face. Sango was blushing furiously, and Shippo laughed.

"Stop playing around," Inuyasha muttered, "once we finish eating, we still have to find the jewel shards, it's been far too long since Kagome has sensed anything."

"Oh c'mon, Inuyasha," Kagome said cheerfully, "its just been a week. Besides, everybody needs to rest once in a while."

"Yeah well, they can rest but we still need to find the shards."

"INUYASHA! Stop being so serious all the time."

"Ain't my fault your not, do I need to remind you again that you were the one who split the jewel in the first place?"

_Aww, not again!_ Kagome frowned, _it's been like the hundreth time!_

Soon (about a few minutes later), all the food was completely gone, and Kagome quickly packed up so they could continue their journey. As usual, Inuyasha sat next to a tree with his legs crossed, looking at nothing in particular, but very much deep in thought. Kagome looked at him, and her eyes softened. _I will really miss that look in his eyes. I wonder what he's thinking about._

She stood there, next to her bike, admiring him, when suddenly, his head snapped and looked right at her.

"What are ya staring at?" He snarled (in a nicer way than it sounds).

"Ehheh.. nothing!" Kagome blushed, and quickly turned around to pack.

Inuyasha's eyes lingered on her back for a few seconds, before turning away to think, once again.

While walking through a dusty trail, heading towards the forest

"It's really sunny, isn't it?" Sango remarked, in her peaceful way of talking.

"Yes, it is," Miroku said. (Right now, he's being serious, not a pervert.) "But it's much too quiet."

Inuyasha concentrated on the atmostphere around him, and couldn't help but silently agree. Kagome studied the path around her, and closed her eyes.

"I don't sense any jewel shards, Inuyasha, and Miroku's right. It's much too quiet. I wonder why."

"Yeah well, we'll find out sooner or later."

Kagome smiled up at him. "Your so optimistic these days!"

No matter how hard she tried to sound cheerful, all she received was a small "heh" in reply. If Kagome didn't notice though, Shippo, Sango, Miroku, and even little Mioga were always able to notice how his eyes would soften a bit when they talked to each other.

_Oh, Inuyasha, sometimes I don't get it. I can feel like there's something between us, yet there always seems like there's something in the way..._

A/N: Next chapter will be much, much longer, and better. This is just like an introduction. Want me to continue? R-R please


	2. A Trap

**Bonded Lives **

**Chapter Two : The Trap**

As they entered the forest, Kagome could feel a sense of restlessness stirring amongst the creatures, and doubtless, she wasn't the only one who was able to sense it.

"What is this?" Shippo whined, as the trees rustled violently after a gust of wind blew. "Everything feels so creepy."

"I do agree, this forest is more dark than usual," Miroku observed. The sun was covered by the grey clouds that seemed to suddenly emerge from the sky, but nobody was worried.

"Do you think it could be Naraku?" Sango asked.

"I don't smell his scent anywhere," Inuyasha retorted, "don't get all jumpy over nothing." He folded his arms across his chest and continued to walk at the front of the group. Kagome, just behind him, trailed her pink bike right behind.

Lately, she wasn't as perky as usual. Not because she was sick or anything, but because she was beginning to fully realize the problems being here caused her. First of all, what would she do when all the shards were found? They had about half the Shikon Jewel completed now, and Kagome knew that with Inuyasha's determination, the rest would come fast.

No doubt, she didn't want to leave. But where would she go? Kikyo had once said she didn't belong here, yet Kagome loved it here. Though this place had less technology, less food, and her family wasn't here, she would leave her own world to stay here, and to be with Inuyasha. Before, she thought she would've missed the 21st century. But now, she knew all she deeply wanted was to be with Inuyasha, and her friends here.

Sometimes, it made her want to cry, knowing that one day Inuyasha would become a full demon, and possibly forget about her. Then, she would have no choice but to leave. Sometimes, her brother Souta would mutter things like "there are many other fish in the sea", but Kagome knew that no matter how long she searched her world, there would never be another Inuyasha, because there could only be one Hanyou that made her heart beat faster.

The thoughts of Inuyasha swirled in her mind always. After they had kissed, Kagome had thought things would be a bit different. Nothing changed at all though. Deep inside, she knew that she had wanted to kiss him. It was an attempt to save him, yet she was glad she had had the chance to save him. It was odd, how sometimes he would just hold her, and it seemed like she could melt in his gauzy red robes forever. But then, she always pulled away when the time seemed right, because he would too. She wondered whether he knew, about her love for him. Was it written all over her eyes? Sango and Miroku seemed to have noticed, but Inuyasha kept a barrier. Often times, Kagome tried to read his eyes, but they would never show much.

However, Kagome reflected happily on the time that she was able to read the emotion in his eyes when they sat together in the fire, talking about Princess Kaguya of the Moon. He had looked lonley, and a bit confused. She could see that even he himself wasn't sure if he wanted to stay a hanyou. No matter how many times he said that he's made up his mind, Kagome knew he was still deciding somewhere in him.

Absentmindedly, Kagome smiled to herself as she thought of that memory, and the happiness spread around her when she realized that at least, Inuyasha still wore the locket she had given him some time before. No matter how many times he complained it looked ridiculously feminine, she never let him take it off, and miracuously, he never did.

If only she could think about school this much.

Suddenly, a small signal in her head brought her out of her deep thoughts.

"Inuyasha, I sense a jewel shard," she gasped, and quickly retrieved her arrows and bow from her bag. "It's very faint, but it's that way!" She pointed towards the left of the forest, where the trees opened up a bit, and a damp moss could be seen on the ground. Inuyasha and the rest of the troupe sped towards that direction. Inuyasha, as usual, the fastest, as if the devil itself was chasing after him. Sango had stopped holding Kirara, and it was now it's full deadly size, flying towards that direction.

They reached a small inning of the forest when Kagome sensed the pulsing of a shard grow stronger, and stronger. There was a small stream blocking their path, and further ahead were cliffs. "Over there, " Kagome said determined, "the cliffs!"

Then suddenly, she gasped. "Inuyasha..it's coming!" The signal was very strong now, and a figure was flying at them. It was a bired-like demon, with glowing green eyes, and a wail that sounded faintly like a truck from Kagome's time. It was quite large, probably around the size of a whale, and had shiny scales all over it. It was flying towards Inuyasha, muttering incomprehensible words. Sango, aboard Kirara was about to use her hiraikotsu, but sensed that Inuyasha probably had things under control.

"Oh yea, it's coming alright," Inuyasha said confidently, and drew out his Tetseiga. It immediately grew to a larger size, and Inuyasha held it out in front of him. The bird stopped mid-air and flapped its wings, sending out waves of lightening.

"Where is it, Kagome!"

Kagome looked up at the massive creature, and saw the glow. "On it's forehead, Inuyasha."

"Great. BACKLASH WAVE!" He immediately sent the waves of lightening back at the huge demon, and rushed to aim his Wind Scar at the forehead.

"Inuyasha, wait! I'll sent it down, and you can take it from there!" Sango yelled, and sent her hiraikotsu flying. It slammed right into the right wing of the creature, and with a wail, it went flying down towards Inuyasha.

"Kagome, get out of the way!" Inuyasha growled, and pushed her and Shippo out of the landing zone for the bird. He was just about to finish the bird off, when a bright blue flash came out of nowhere and grabbed Kagome.

"Huh?" Miroku and Shippo said at once. Inuyasha looked back and saw how a blue wind was carrying Kagome in the air. "KAGOME!" He yelled. "Dammit, stupid bird."

"INUYASHA!" Miroku said, "Go get the shard. I'll use some sutras for the wind."

Sango steered Kirara towards Kagome. She dove towards the wind and was readying to grab Kagome. Inuyasha, by that time, had killed the demon, but was desperately looking at Kagome.

"YOU BETTER LET HER GO, WHATEVER YOU ARE OR YOU'LL REGRET IT!" He yelled, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to use the Tetseiga without risking Kagome's life. Shippo was worried, and was calling out Kagome's name. "Inuyasha, do something!" He wailed.

Miroku threw his sutras at the wind, but it just blew the papers away, as if they were feathers.

Kagome, being in the wind, was struggling to get out, but it enveloped her and was carrying her away. Then suddenly, just as Sango almost reached her, the wind rushed and entered her body.

For a split second, she felt as if her body wasn't hers. The wind was cold, and she felt like her whole body was frozen. Just before she was falling, she swore she heard a voice whisper "_Kagome, now we're very much alike"_ and then a blood curdling woman laugh. Then, the wind was gone and she was falling.

She couldn't open her mouth to scream, still in a daze, but luckily Kirara caught her before she hit the ground.

When she reached the ground, she couldn't think. Her mind was blank with daze, as if somebody just knocked the wind out of her.

To them, Kagome looked pale, and her eyes were opened wide with no expression. Her mouth was partially opened, as if she couldn't breath. Inuyasha looked at her, and his heart pounded. Quickly, he gathered the dazed girl into his arms and whispered, "Hey, Kagome, what happened?" Sango, Miroku, and Shippo stood on the side, not saying a word. However, Shippo had enough sense to quickly pick up the shard of the jewel that the bird possessed.

In Kagome's mind, all was blank, but then she could feel the warmth. She opened her eyes to see the red cloth Inuyasha always wore, and she breathed in, deeply, as if she hadn't breathed for ages. Her eyes returned to their normal lively look, and Inuyasha's tensed up face relaxed. Shippo let out a cry of joy and hugged her.

"Kagome, what happened?" Sango asked her. "Are you alright?"

"Yea.. I feel okay," Kagome whispered. _But what just happened? I have a bad feeling about this._

She got up, out of the warmth that she recognized as Inuyasha. "We should get going now," Kagome finally said, after brushing herself off. "It's going to be night soon, and we need to find a safer place to settle!"

"Are you sure your alright?" Miroku said, "I could sense the demonic aura in the wind that just carried you and disappeared. It was quite strong, and it was the object of use."

"I'm fine. It let me go now right? I must've not been what they were looking for," Kagome said cheerfully. "I'm just surprised, that's all."

"Well then, lets go. What are you guys waiting for?" Inuyasha said, and started heading towards the cliffs.

Kagome looked at him, walking away. She felt a connection just minutes ago, but now it was gone. All gone.


	3. Snatches of Love

A/N: FORGOT TO SAY..these characters don't belong to me at all (but you all know that) but I do own this new enemy of Inuyasha's, which you will know once you read on ),

Only one review so far? Even if you don't like my story, I will still publish it, hahas. But please R/R anyways.

Bonded Lives

Chapter Three: Snatches of Love

Later in the evening, our fellow heroes decided to make camp near a hot spring, a place that they were familiar with. A village wasn't far off, which they decided to visit the next morning.

Of course, the guys were being gentlemen enough to let the women bathe first..

The steamy atmosphere of the hot spring was more than enough to calm Kagome, Sango, and Shippo down after a long day.

"This feels great, doesn't it Kagome?" Sango asked her, "there is nothing like a nice bath after a long day."

"Yeah.." Kagome agreed, looking up at the starry night. _You can always see the stars here, it's wonderful._

She sighed deeply and went a little deeper into the water. Sango, and even Shippo notice how quiet she was after the attack, and were worried.

"Are you sure you're alright Kagome?" Shippo inquired, swimming around casually. "You seem quiet. You didn't even argue with Inuyasha at all!"

Kagome forced a smile. "No...but since I probably won't be here for much longer, I guess we should try to get along."

"What do you mean?" Sango asked. "Are you going back to your own time?"

"Once all the shards are found, what else can I do?" Kagome mumbled, obviously depressed.

"What?" Sango asked increduously. "You'll always be welcome here Kagome!"

Kagome looked into the water, and her eyes watered. She shook her head. "Not by everyone, Sango, don't forget, Inuyasha will become a full demon by then."

Sango looked at Kagome, shocked. Her friend's eyes were so filled with pain that her heart ached for her, as it did for Kohaku.

Kagome started to cry, letting out some of the pain that had been wrenched into her heart ever since she fell in love with Inuyasha. "I've never meant much to Inuyasha, nothing more than a shard detector. Once all the shards are found, Sango, he won't care about us anymore! He'll be a full demon."

**Somewhere in a Cave**

_"He'll be a full demon.." _

"Kagome, you pathetic weakling," a shadow sitting in the dark, mysterious cave muttered. The form of this shadow was a woman, and she was observing Kagome through a puddle of water that was on the ground. Her claws were long, and sharp, and they seemed to be caressing a shining bottle that was strung around her neck. Echoes of the drops of water could be heard in the cave, which set the ambiance for this demoness.

The blue eyes of this mysterious demoness flickered as she observed Kagome through the water. This was all connected with the bottle that was strung around her neck. Slowly, the demoness lifted her sleeve, and gently ran her finger up her pale, slender hand. Suddenly, she used her sharp claws and pinched her skin there until she drew blood.

**Back in the Hot Spring**

Kagome gasped and winced in pain. She quickly retaliated her arm out of the water and hugged it, wondering where the sudden sharp stab came from.

"Kagome.. are you alright?" Sango asked, worridley.

Kagome looked at her hand, which was flawless, and showed no evidence of pain, yet the sting could still be felt.

"I'm...okay.." Kagome said slowly, wondering what just happened. Sango smiled, relieved, and stood up to shake off the water from her hair.

**Back in the Cave**

_"I'm okay.."_

The demoness laughed. This proved their connection was real. She continued to admire Kagome's confused face, relishing the girls stupidity and her own cleverness.

"Imagine, bestowing the powers of a priestess upon such a weak fool," the demoness muttered to herself. "Well, this was worth sacrificing a shard over. Priestess of the Other World, you will be my weapon of destruction."

And she caressed the bottle once again.

**Back with Inuyasha and the others**

Kagome and Sango quickly put their clothes back on (to avoid Peeping Tom's) and headed towards camp. On the way, they found Miroku keeping guard.

"Why, I will never understand why women look so radiant after a hot spring bath," he complimented Sango. She blushed a little, and was about to reply when she was interrupted by a certain hanyou.

"Finally you're done. Does it really take all day to take a bath?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome opened her mouth, and was about to say something snide back, but found that she couldn't. She looked away.

"I gather it's our turn to cleanse up a bit, will you watch our things for us?" Miroku asked, in his nice way of talking.

"Of course," Sango said, and placed Miroku's staff close to the fire. "I'll keep it safe. Inuyasha, are you going to leave your Tetseiga here?"

"Yeah, why not," he said, remembering the time when Jaken nearly made off with it. "But you better watch it."

"We will, we will," Shippo said. They watched the retreating backs of the two guys, and when they were out of sight, Sango brought up a subject that she had wondered about for a long while.

"Kagome..?" She started, once they both settled near the fire.

"Yes Sango?" Kagome curled up into a ball and gazed into the burning embers. Sometimes, she could lose her worry on peaceful night's like this, and the weather was perfect, too.

"Tell me.. do you have feelings for Inuyasha?"

"Of course she does," Shippo said nonchantly, "it's written all over their faces." A smaller Kirara came out of the bushes and jumped into Sango's arms, folding herself into sleep.

Kagome looked at Shippo, and smiled. "Is it?" She looked up at the sky, really serious this time. "I don't know, Sango.. sometimes I feel like I love him, and sometimes I know I love him but I'm afraid to, you know?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Sango studied Kagome. "I can tell, he feels something for you."

"Yes, but what? Sometimes I think I mean something to him, but I think he only protects me because.." her voice trailed off, almost afraid to say it.

"Because?" Sango knew what Kagome was going to say.

"Because I'm his shard detector."

"I think it's more than that, Kagome."

"You don't understand, Sango. At times I can feel a connection, but it never lasts for long. He's always placing a barrier between us, and I know he still misses Kikyo. "

Sango was still looking at Kagome, full of empathy for her friend. "Kagome...have you ever really talked to Inuyasha?"

"No, do you think I'm crazy?" Kagome couldn't help but laugh a bit at the thought of telling Inuyasha how she really felt. "I'd rather be rejected later than now, atleast later on, I can still stay here just awhile longer."

Sango looked away, and had nothing else to say, nothing else to comfort her friend about. Because she herself didn't know.

Behind them, in the bushes, stood Inuyasha. Out of their sight. He had came back to get his Tetseiga, which he felt was safer near him than with them, and had heard every word of their conversation. His head was down so that his bangs covered his eyes, and he stood still, still processing what Kagome just said.

_I never knew she felt that way.._


End file.
